Stores receive millions of dollars of returns of products. Sometimes the returns result from defective products. Other times the returns result from customer dissatisfaction with a product despite no product defect. If a product is defective, the product is generally returned to the manufacturer. If the product is not defective, it is advantageous to both the stores and the manufacturer if the product can be resold without returning the product to the manufacturer.
Before reselling a returned product, it is desirable that a store be able to test the product to assure proper operation. For example, Hewlett-Packard Company provides a diagnostic tool to stores that allow stores to perform tests to aid in the determination of whether returned printers are faulty.
Many printers include the capability to be directly connected to a network such as an Ethernet network. Currently available diagnostic tools do not include the capability to perform simple and efficient field testing for Ethernet functionality. Therefore, to test Ethernet functionality of a printer, it is typically required to connect the Ethernet port of the printer to the Ethernet port of a personal computer. The network settings of the personal computer need to be configured to properly communicate with the printer.
For example, a printer under test can be in two general states depending upon how a customer has configured the printer. For example, the printer can be configured in a “Manual Mode”, so that all parameters such as IP address, Subnet Masks, and Gateways need to be set manually by a user. Alternatively, the printer can be configured in “Automatic Mode”, in which the printer relies on a server connected to the network to send an IP address and other appropriate configuration settings to the printer.
When the printer is in manual mode, configuration of the network settings requires a user to know the internet protocol (IP) address of the printer. When the printer is in automatic mode, the user is required to configure the printer with a static IP address. Once the personal computer and the printer are configured correctly, the user causes the personal computer to send a print job directly to the printer. The configuration process described above requires a user to have a significant amount of familiarity with networking in order to configure the printer and perform testing.